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Pope Benedict resigns in historic move

Jean-Louis De La Vaissiere

Pope Benedict XVI has announced he will resign due to old age, becoming the first pontiff in 700 years to step down because he can no longer fulfil his duties, in a move that's stunned the world.

The German-born leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics said he would resign on February 28 after just eight years as pope, making his one of the shortest pontificates in modern history.

The 85-year old pontiff made the announcement in a speech in Latin at a meeting with world cardinals in his residence in the Apostolic Palace on Monday, dressed in red vestments and with his voice barely audible as he read a written text.

"I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry," he said.

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As tributes poured in from across the world, the Vatican emphasised that the former Joseph Ratzinger was not resigning due to any illness, following speculation over his frail appearance at recent ceremonies.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said he expected a conclave of cardinals to be held in March within 15 or 20 days of the resignation and a new pope elected before Easter Sunday on March 31.

"The Pope caught us a bit by surprise," Lombardi said at a hastily arranged press conference.

Benedict's brother, Georg Ratzinger, told AFP he had known "for a few months" that he was planning to resign and was "feeling the burden of his age".

"It is a positive thing that he is handing over the office to younger hands," he said.

Some faithful said they hoped the move would signal a major change for the church after a conservative pontificate that has been marred by scandals, including most notably clerical child abuse.

Vatican observers have already begun speculating over who could succeed Benedict, with online betters tipping an African pope as the most likely.

But some say the number of cardinals from Europe and North America who can vote for a new pope - 76 out of 118 - could sway the choice to a Western state.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel led tributes from political and religious leaders across the globe, hailing Benedict as "one of the most significant religious thinkers of our time".

US President Barack Obama offered "our appreciation and prayers" on behalf of all Americans.

Justin Welby, leader of the world's Anglicans, said he understood "with a heavy heart" Benedict's decision, and that he had held his office with "great dignity, insight and courage".

The Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel said Benedict XVI had improved ties between the two religions and which helped reduce anti-Semitism around the world.

Shocked believers flocked to St Peter's Square to express their dismay at what will be only the second formal resignation in the Catholic church's 2000-year history after Celestine V in 1294.

"I love Benedict. We're really shocked he's resigning because he wasn't pope for long enough. He hasn't finished his plan," said Sebastian Mazur, a 21-year-old trainee priest from Poland.

Jennifer, a 30-year-old mother of two from the United States who lives in Rome, said: "It's sadder today than when Pope John Paul II died because at least that was natural."

Gian Maria Vian, editor of the Vatican's official daily, L'Osservatore Romano, said the Pope took his decision after a particularly wearying trip to Mexico and Cuba last year and only after "a repeated examination of his conscience".

Benedict, who succeeded the late Pope John Paul II in 2005 and is known as a diehard traditionalist and a lightning rod for controversy, will retire to a monastery within the Vatican walls.

The Pope, who has often had to use a mobile platform to move around St Peter's basilica during church services, had hinted in a book of interviews in 2010 that he might resign if he felt he was no longer able to carry out his duties.

The Pope suffers from arthritis, had a stroke while he was still cardinal and broke a wrist when he slipped in the bath in 2009.

Benedict was the Catholic church's doctrinal enforcer for many years and earned the nickname, God's Rottweiler. He is an academic theologian who has written numerous books including a trilogy on the life of Jesus Christ that he completed last Christmas.

The guiding principle of Benedict's papacy has been to reinvigorate the Catholic faith, particularly among young people and in countries with rising levels of secularism such as in Europe and North America.

He has shown a degree of openness on some moral issues - becoming the first pope ever to speak about the possibility of using contraception to avoid the spread of the AIDS virus - but is better known for his fierce opposition to abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage.

The US Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which has been highly critical of Benedict's handling of the pedophilia scandal, called on the church to "select a pontiff who puts child safety and victim healing first".